The Trump administration is struggling to convince skeptics of its claims that U.S. strikes on Iran have toppled the country's nuclear program and wiped out ambitions to rebuild it.

In the past two days, a fiery Pentagon press conference and two classified congressional briefings have left one key question unanswered: How far was Iran's nuclear program set back?

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said his claims about Iran’s nuclear sites had been “proven.”

“It’s been obliterated. It would be years before they could ever get going,” he said, adding that the Iranians are “exhausted, the last thing they’re thinking about is nuclear.”

But over on Capitol Hill, lawmakers were not convinced.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other top intelligence officials briefed the Senate on Thursday and the House on Friday about the June 21 strikes on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment plant, Natanz Enrichment Complex and Isfahan nuclear site.

Democrats said the meetings – which also included Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – failed to answer key questions about how much enriched uranium Iran still possessed and how long it would take for Tehran to resume its battered nuclear program.

While no one questioned that the bombing inflicted significant damage to the Iranian infrastructure required........

© The Hill